Table of contents for Writer's Yearbook 2023 in Writer's Digest

While the worst of the pandemic is hopefully in the rearview mirror, its effects continue to be felt across the publishing industry, for good and ill. While sales have benefited greatly, costs have risen, and it’s more challenging than ever to print books, magazines, and newspapers due to scarce supplies. Workers, too, have changed. Unionizing is on the rise, and the U.S. government is fighting a landmark case against big publishers to protect authors’ incomes. The pre-2020 market feels like a very distant past. SUPPLY CHAIN WOES PLAGUE BOOK AND MAGAZINE PUBLISHING Book printing schedules are taking twice as long as they used to, and costs have risen by 30 percent since 2020 for printing, paper, and transportation. Publishers have begun raising book prices accordingly. Manufacturing experts say there will…

I sometimes wonder how many great novels are sitting in dusty drawers, half-finished, abandoned, perhaps forgotten. Novels that burst forth at the beginning, carrying their writer with them, but then hit a wall, before the writer gave up, exhausted, dispirited—perhaps not knowing that flagging energy is as much a part of novel writing as plot itself (and that there’s even a special type of creative magic to be found in such moments). Too many novels have ended up this way. Writing a novel has been compared to months of pregnancy, running a marathon, climbing a mountain, or even going to war. And it can feel like all those things in one. This is why it’s worth thinking about the novels you’ve abandoned and ask if you gave up because the novel…

Freelance writers often begin their journeys intimidated. Where do they find clients? Where do they collect those first all-important samples to show future clients? But mostly, they wonder what to charge. Charge too much, and they lose the client. Charge too little, and they jeopardize not only their livelihood but also their reputation. The question used to be “what do I charge?” Today, it’s as much the way you charge and why you charge as it is how much. The old school method involved deciding what you wish to earn annually, add for taxes, insurance, retirement, and administrative duties, then divide it by the number of hours you work. Voilà. There’s your hourly rate. While you need a good feel for a minimum hourly rate, changing times call for flexibility.…

In a world desperately in need of change, you have an opportunity now to write a book that inspires personal, organizational, or global transformation. However, a well-crafted manuscript may not be enough to motivate your readers toward internal or external change. To author the change you want to see in the world, you can write a novel, a memoir, a parable, a biography, or a prescriptive nonfiction book. Historically, though, nonfiction has offered a powerful vehicle for change. With that in mind, consider the types of books that motivated you to change, started movements, or reached millions of readers. You may be experienced in one genre, like fiction, and feel inclined to write a changeinspiring novel. Before you begin writing, consider stretching your writing skills by switching genres so your…

I joined the WD team after working in nonfiction book publishing for about six years. I was used to getting book proposals and kept myself blissfully away from the magazine side of the brand I was working on. But when I joined WD, where the magazine and books were not only intertwined, but the books were sometimes about making magazines, I was suddenly hit with three terms that seemed interchangeable: pitch, query, and proposal. First there was confusion and then, the moment of enlightenment: They’re similar, but not the same, and belong to those collections of terms that industry folks use so often, it can be easy to forget there are always going to be people hearing them for the first time. The basic difference is this: PITCH: A request to…

Just as good fences make good neighbors, good contracts make good working relationships. You will be faced with numerous contracts in your writing life—with publishers, of course, but possibly also with agents, co-authors, illustrators/photographers, and freelance editors. Good contracts minimize the chance for unpleasant surprises—each party knows their rights and responsibilities. Though not always legally necessary, it’s good practice to put everything in writing, signed by both parties. To some, the word contract sounds too formal and lawyer-y and they are uncomfortable with mentioning a contract to, say, a longtime associate with whom you are collaborating on a book. But contracts don’t have to be formal—just call it an agreement. Blame your lawyer (even if you don’t have one): “My lawyer recommends we put together an agreement.” If you’re drafting…

I know I need to be writing this novel, but …” How many times have you found yourself thinking that? You know you should be writing, but you find yourself surfing the internet, watching cat videos, or worse—staring at the wall, thinking about your story. Procrastination strikes even the most disciplined writers. Every colleague I know has at least one battle story about their war against procrastination. But is slacking off every now and again a bad thing? In most cases, procrastination is not productive, but you can turn it into a force for good by adopting a curiosity mindset and practicing a hidden superpower I call “drifting.” HOW WRITER’S BLOCK LED TO A BREAKTHROUGH IN MY NOVEL I discovered the curiously effective and surprising power of procrastination by accident.…

There’s a line from Mad Men that resonates with anyone who has ever worked as a freelancer: “The day you sign a client is the day you start losing them.” That uncertainty is why the freelance life isn’t for everyone; some folks prefer the stability of a job where someone else takes care of keeping you busy.1 Smart freelance writers embrace this part of the job and make landing new clients part of their regular operations,2 which makes time management the big challenge for most freelance writers—how can you find new clients when the clients you already have eat up all of your time? And once you have a robust list of clients and you’re actually making a living as a writer,3 it’s easy to get comfortable and let the…

Congratulations! You just typed “The End” on page 300 or so of your manuscript and pressed “Save.” After months—perhaps even years—of constantly chipping away at your manuscript, you tied up the plot, the characters faced physical and emotional challenges (and perhaps overcame them), and your closing sentence is perfected. Now that your book is complete, the real work comes in: revision. Because of my time as a developmental editor at a Big Five publisher, I understand the struggle writers have in creating. Finishing a full novel is not a feat to be taken lightly! But that’s only the first step. Revising effectively is key to making sure all the building blocks of your story are strong enough to hold up to the scrutiny of book professionals and readers alike as…

Shortly after my novel Daykeeper won the Indie Author Project’s inaugural Indie Author of the Year Award and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s Best Fiction E-Book Award, I stopped writing novels. It wasn’t because I felt I had reached some milestone in my writing career and needed to “drop the mic.” It was because I could no longer bring myself to write stories where I had to expand them beyond what I felt their natural lengths were. Like many other writers, I had read the apocryphal story often attributed to Ernest Hemingway, where, on a dare, he supposedly crafted this six-word story: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” It’s difficult to not be intrigued by the fact that an entire story rests in the spaces between those…

Assembling a list of the best 100 markets for writers is bound to stir up debate about the hows and whys of putting together the list. Let me just assert from the beginning that this is not meant to be comprehensive or even super scientific, though there are science magazines included in this selection. Rather, it’s a list of 100 great markets for writers that cover a variety of topics and offer opportunities to writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and even more experimental genres. I’ve included information on what they want, how to submit, and payment information. However, keep in mind that publishing is constantly changing and that new guidelines could develop at any moment. That’s why I’ve also included each market’s website—so you can confirm the current situation for…

WRITING PROMPTS 1. CHOOSE A SECONDARY OR BACKGROUND CHARACTER FROM YOUR WORK IN PROGRESS. Develop a backstory for them including how they got to where they are, how and why they are a friend/enemy of your main character, and a potential storyline that could center them in their own book.2. GET YOUR CREATIVE GEARS TURNING. Write a scene with your characters in a setting where they’d never actually go. This could be Mars, a farm, a cruise ship, etc. Though this scene will likely never make it in your book, putting them in situations outside of their comfort zone might tell you something about them you wouldn’t otherwise discover. Plus, you’ll get practice in developing settings.3. WRITE A DRABBLE—a complete story of exactly 100 words—featuring a main character from your story.…

Sharpen your pencils for a pop quiz: Which of these qualifies as a “fair use” of another’s work? A. When I use part of an old work that is in the public domain. (Nope. If something is in the public domain, it is no longer—or never was—protected by copyright and you are free to use it.) B. When there isn’t a copyright line or symbol, it’s fair game. (Nope. If you don’t see copyright symbol, it is still protected by copyright.) C. I used fewer than 300 words of another’s work. (Nope. There isn’t a certain word count or percentage for fair use—a common misperception.) “Fair use” is when it’s OK to use a portion of someone else’s copyrighted work without permission under certain circumstances. The tricky thing about fair…

Most freelance writers wouldn’t have a career without sources—the experts and real-life individuals that make a story come alive. “I’m always surprised at how many people are willing to share their time, experience, and expertise with me,” says Elizabeth Gardner, a freelance writer based near Chicago. “It’s just amazing.” For the most part, your interactions with sources will go smoothly, but once in a while, you’re likely to run into some problems. Here’s a lowdown on practical steps that can help you tackle these issues—and best practices that will prevent them. GET PAST COMMON HICCUPS Some sources want to review their quotes or the entire draft before it reaches readers—a practice frowned upon in journalism. But rules about this vary across outlets and some editors do allow it. “That’s always…

Writing a novel is like embarking on a road trip. There’s a beginning, middle, end, and—more importantly—a journey occurring all the while. The usual hope is that the end will see the characters in a better place, but the destination can be anywhere as long as the journey logically leads there. Having the freedom to go any place, however, doesn’t mean we should hit the road without any plan at all. Whether writing detailed outlines or typing off the cuff, a general idea of destination before beginning makes a real difference in the success of the overall journey. Even if some “sightseeing” has to change, some vision of where the story is headed helps decide the best or most necessary routes and avoid what may be time-wasting detours. Knowing the…

Now in its 24th year, the Annual 101 Best Websites for Writers list has been singling out some of the best resources for aspiring and established writers across all genres. This list offers a mix of WD favorites, reader-nominated sites, and some personal preferences from the editors. They all focus on one goal: Helping you improve your craft and get your work into reader’s hands. You’ll see a few entries that require membership or a fee to use—they made it onto this list because the quality of their services makes that cost worthwhile. However, we try to keep budget in mind, so you’ll see quite a few websites that either have free-to-use features alongside their paid-for services or they offer their work without any fee attached. We want you to…

In January 2021, I moderated an Ask Agents panel for the Florida branch of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. On a whim, I asked, “What do you wish writers knew that would make your job easier, happier, or better?” They had answers. A lot of them. For this article, I decided to greatly expand the pool of agents and then ask them all that same question. Here are their answers. Taken together, it provides a pretty handy pathway to success as a writer. FINDING AN AGENT “If an agent offers to sign you and you think they’d be a good fit, then sign immediately. Don’t play games and say you want to hear from other agents first. If they show enthusiasm and desire, why wait?” —Victoria Sanders…